An Almost Date
by SRHtheHedgehog
Summary: Reiji forces Shinji to invite Hikari over. Short, simple, oneshot. Ikarishipping


A/N: Another English paper, which is why most normal things about the pokemon world are spelled out so plainly here (my English teacher isn't exactly a fan of video games or cartoons). Supposed to be a quick oneshot, so don't ask for more on this one XD; Had an idea for another story, but forgot it at the moment. I'll remember at some point and write it later.

* * *

Shinji angrily threw himself at the couch.

"What have you gotten me into _this_ time, Aniki?!"

Reiji merely smiled at his younger brother's angst. Shinji was always hiding his true feelings, but at the same time he still presented his personality so honestly with using a rough term for his brother such as "Aniki". He never ceased to amaze Reiji. "Nothing, Shinji," he said innocently. "Is a date with Hikari-kun really so bad?"

"Yes." Shinji gritted his teeth. "I don't want to spend the day with someone so annoying."

"Well, you're going to have to," Reiji said simply. "We can't just cancel on such short notice."

"You mean _you_ can't cancel; I had nothing to do with this," Shinji grumbled, crossing his arms. Reiji walked out of the room without hearing what Shinji said.

What an annoying situation. Shinji was stuck in his house for the rest of the day, lest he face the wrath of his over caring older brother. He was just beginning to ponder escape by way of the small window in the kitchen when the doorbell rang.

Lovely.

"Ah! Shinji, she's here!" Reiji leapt gracefully to the front door. He turned to Shinji and glared. "Now, make sure that you're polite to her."

Shinji grunted. "And make her think that she's welcome back? I think not," he muttered under his breath. Reiji swung the door open, revealing their awaited guest.

"Welcome, Hikari-kun!" Reiji said brightly. "Please, come in!" Hikari nodded, a small smile playing upon her soft lips. She stepped lightly inside and slipped off her shoes and jacket. After putting on a pair of slippers, she walked over to where Shinji was sitting.

The living room was a large, simple room. There were a few pieces of furniture around the large fireplace, which was adorned with Reiji's many gym badges and Battle Frontier symbols. Shinji's obsession with strength and endurance could very well have come from his yearning to catch up to his older brother.

The fireplace was warmly blazing, making pleasant crackling sounds. Sunlight poured into the room from the open curtains, reflecting off of the snow outside and adding to the pleasant atmosphere.

Hikari stood awkwardly near the couch that Shinji was sitting on until Reiji motioned for her to sit. She hesitantly sat at the other end, not sure whether to approach Shinji or leave him to fester in the growing fire of rage that was engulfing him. He was going to kill his brother before the day was out.

"Well, then, I'll just leave you two to converse!" Reiji said before swiftly leaving the room, obviously trying to prevent any protest from his younger brother.

It was silent for quite some time before Hikari gathered up enough gall to say anything. "Um…Shinji…"

"I'm only here because of Aniki," Shinji interrupted. "Don't try to make small talk. I never agreed to any of this."

Hikari sighed in relief. "Oh, I thought that _you_ invited me over. I was afraid that I'd done something wrong that you wanted to yell at me about."

Shinji raised his eyebrow. "What could you have possibly screwed up enough that even I would come looking for you?"

"I don't know…" Hikari shifted uncomfortably in her spot on the couch. "My temper can get to be too much sometimes, and I thought that maybe you had gotten offended the last time we met…" Hikari looked at the floor.

"You? Offend me?" Shinji smirked. "You're extremely annoying, but even you can't say anything bad enough to offend me." To Shinji's surprise, Hikari showed no signs of offense on her part, but rather breathed another sigh of relief.

"Good. Now…what are we supposed to be doing?" She started looking around.

"My brother wants us to…well…" Shinji looked away angrily. "He thinks that I'm madly in love with you or something. He's gone crazy and decided that I need to whisk you away from the idiot and the breeder." Hikari glared at Shinji. She had never been very fond of his nickname for her good friends and traveling companions, Satoshi and Takeshi. Takeshi was, in fact, a pokemon breeder and had dedicated his life to helping pokemon and how they're raised, but she felt that he had a right to having his name used just as anyone else did. Satoshi, on the other hand, wasn't all too bright, but he still didn't deserve the…endearing…title of "the idiot".

"…He thinks you're in love with me?" Hikari stifled a laugh. Shinji? In love with anyone? Ever?

"I don't know; I just know that he's been trying to pair us up for months now." Shinji avoided eye contact with the girl next to him. He refused to admit to anything, even to himself.

Hikari sat quietly for a moment. Finally, she seemed to have thought of something.

"W-what if…what if we started dating? You know, just to get him off our backs for a while," she said quickly upon Shinji's nearly insulted expression. "Like…let's say that we started dating. We date, it doesn't work, we break up, end of story."

Shinji looked at her blankly. "Is anything worth that kind of humiliation?"

"Shinji!" Hikari shouted, face slowly turning red. "I'm just trying to come up with ideas!"

Shinji smirked mischievously. "Sure, why not? Might as well play along with my brother's stupid game, right?" Hikari nodded, turning away as she tried to conceal her blush.

"This should be interesting," Reiji whispered thoughtfully as he listened from the hallway.


End file.
